Sir Roger de Hauteville

 Sir Roger Guiscard de Hauteville was the Grand Count of Sicily. He was born in Sicily about 1031 and died there June 22, 1101.

His Wikipedia information is intriguing:

Roger I of Sicily at the battle of Cerami—victorious against 35,000 Saracens—in 1061.
Roger I (1031 – June 22, 1101), called Bosso and the Great Count, was the Norman Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was the last great leader of the Norman conquest of southern Italy.
Roger was the youngest son of Tancred of Hauteville by his second wife Fredisenda. He arrived in Southern Italy soon after 1055.
Malaterra, who compares Robert Guiscard and his brother to "Joseph and Benjamin of old," says of Roger: "He was a youth of the greatest beauty, of lofty stature, of graceful shape, most eloquent in speech and cool in counsel. He was far-seeing in arranging all his actions, pleasant and merry all with men; strong and brave, and furious in battle." Roger shared the conquest of Calabria with Robert, and in a treaty of 1062 the brothers in dividing the conquest apparently made a kind of "condominium" by which either was to have half of every castle and town in Calabria.
Robert now resolved to employ Roger's genius in reducing Sicily, which contained, besides the Muslims, numerous Greek Christians subject to Arab princes who had become all but independent of the sultan of Tunis. In May 1061 the brothers crossed from Reggio and captured Messina. After Palermo had been taken in January 1072, Robert Guiscard, as suzerain, invested Roger as Count of Sicily, but he retained Palermo, half of Messina, and the north-east portion (the Val Demone). Not till 1085, however, was Roger able to undertake a systematic crusade.
In March 1086 Syracuse surrendered, and when in February 1091 Noto yielded, the conquest was complete. Much of Robert's success had been due to Roger's support. Similarly, when the leadership of the Hautevilles passed to Roger, he supported his nephew Duke Roger against Bohemund, Capua, and other rebels. In return for his aid against Bohemund and the rebels, the duke surrendered his share in the castles of Calabria to his uncle in 1085, and in 1091 his inheritance in Palermo. Roger's rule in Sicily was more absolute than Robert Guiscard's in Italy. At the enfeoffments of 1072 and 1092 no great undivided fiefs were created, so the mixed Norman, French and Italian vassals all owed their benefices to the count. No feudal revolt of importance therefore troubled Roger.
In 1091 Roger, in order to avoid an attack from North Africa, set sail with a fleet to conquer Malta. His ship reached the island before the rest. On landing, the few defenders the Normans encountered retreated and the following day Roger marched to Mdina. Terms were discussed with the Maltese qadi. It was agreed that the islands would become tributaries of the count himself and that the qadi should continue to administer the islands. With the treaty many Greek and other Christian prisoners were released, who chanted to Roger the Kyrie eleison (Mulej Hniena). He left the islands with many who wished to join him and so many were on his ship that it nearly sunk, according to Goffredo Malaterra. Roger repatriated Malta to Christian Europe.
Politically supreme, the count also became master of the insular church. The Papacy, favouring a prince who had recovered Sicily from Greeks and Muslims, in 1098 granted Roger and his heirs the Apostolic Legateship of the island. Roger created new Latin bishoprics at Syracuse, Girgenti, and elsewhere, nominating the bishops personally, while he turned the archbishopric of Palermo into a Catholic see. Roger practised general toleration towards Arabs and Greeks, allowing to each race the expansion of its own civilization. In the cities, the Muslims, who had generally secured such rights in their terms of surrender, retained their mosques, their kadis, and freedom of trade; in the country, however, they became serfs. Roger drew the mass of his infantry from the Muslims. Saint Anselm, visiting him at the siege of Capua, 1098, found "the brown tents of the Arabs innumerable". Nevertheless, the Latin element began to prevail, as Lombards and other Italians flocked to the island in the wake of the conquest, and the conquest of Sicily proved decisive in the steady decline of Muslim power in the western Mediterranean from this time.
Roger, the "Great Count of Sicily," died on June 22, 1101, in his seventieth year and was buried in S. Trinità of Mileto.
[edit] FamilyRoger's eldest son was a bastard named Jordan, who predeceased him. His second son, Geoffrey, may have been a bastard, but may also have been a son of his first or second wife. Whatever the case, he was a leper with no chance of inheriting.
Roger's first marriage took place in 1061, to Judith, daughter of William, Count of Évreux and Hawisa of Échauffour. She died in 1076, leaving all daughters:

1. A daughter, married Hugh of Gircea (or Gercé)
2. Matilda, married Raymond IV of Toulouse
3. Adelisa, married Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo
4. Emma (d.1120), briefly engaged to Philip I of France; married firstly the count of Clermont and secondly Rudolf, Count of Montescaglioso

In 1077, Roger married a second time, to Eremburga of Mortain, daughter of "William, Count of Mortain" (probably William Warlenc). Their children were:

1. Mauger, Count of Troina
2. Matilda, married Guigues III, Count of Albon
3. Muriel, married Josbert de Lucy
4. Constancia, married Conrad of Italy
5. Felicia, married King Coloman of Hungary
6. Violante, married Robert of Burgundy, son of Robert I of Burgundy
7. Flandina, married Henry del Vasto
8. Judith, married Robert I of Bassunvilla

Roger's third and last wife was Adelaide del Vasto, niece of Boniface, Lord of Savona. They married in 1087. Their children were:

1. Simon, Count of Sicily
2. Matilda, married Ranulf II, Count of Alife
3. Roger II, Count, later King, of Sicily
4. Maximilla, married Hildebrand VI (of the Aldobrandeschi family)

[edit] Sources

• Geoffrey Malaterra
• Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
• Houben, Hubert (translated by Graham A. Loud and Diane Milburn). Roger II of Sicily: Ruler between East and West. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Preceded by
—Count of Sicily
1071–1101Succeeded by
Simon

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_I_of_Sicily"

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Another source gives this information, not totally the same as that above:

Sir Roger de Hauteville

b. 1030 & d. 1101-2, a great commander as well as his bro. Robert, who by bravery, military genius and his own energetic exertions, attained nobility and became:  1st.-Count (1080) & afterward Grand-Count ROGER I of Sicily, 1089-1102.   He received in 1098 from Pope Urban II, for himself and his successors, the title of 'Legate Apostical."  He m. twice, and his third son became King of Sicily.  His first wife was Cremburga, by whom he had a son Jordan - who d. 1093 while his father was living; his second wfe. was Adalasia, and by her he had two sons - the eld. Simon, suc. his father, but dying shortly thereafter (1105), was sec. by his younger bro. Roger. ) 

 From Anderson's "Royal Genealogies"; another record states, that his wife was 'Margaret of Monferrat')" 

Underwood

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How much further down this tree before the Rogers appeared? I'm not sure yet...as they obviously had centuries to blossom and then to come to the shores of America.  I'll look further for you tomorrow.

Normandy and Sicily for Rogers roots

My grandmother, Ada Swasey, married George Elmore Rogers...there are some interesting lines in Ancestry that my cousin, Patricia has listed.

They aren't in my own family tree because I've not yet decided that all those parents really had those kids.  I'm the "doubter" among the sheep apparently.  But she's (my cousin) in DAR, and lots of other Daughters of ancestors groups, so these people have been accepted by some professional genealogists.

Fartest back on the Rogers listing is "Haliti de Hauteville," living in about the mid-9th century, without known dates, born around 855.

Coat of Arms of the Hauteville family

Wikepia shares:
The family of the Hauteville (French: Maison de Hauteville, Italian: Casa d'Altavilla, Sicilian: Casa d'Autavilla) was a petty baronial Norman family from the Cotentin which rose to prominence in Europe, Asia, and Africa through its conquests in the Mediterranean, especially Southern Italy and Sicily. They also participated in the Norman Conquest of England.

Origins

Department of Manche, location of Hauteville-la-Guichard

The familial origins had roots from the Norsemen Vikings who had settled in Normandy in the 10th century. In Geoffrey Malaterra's account The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily and of His Brother Robert Guiscard, several allusions are made to the family's ties to the Viking conquest of Normandy by Rollo. They descended from Hiallt, a Norseman who settled in the Cotentin Peninsula and founded the village of Hialtus Villa (Hauteville) from which the family takes its name.^[1][2][3]

From just which village of Hauteville, which may simply mean "high town", the family drew its name is hard to identify with certainty, though modern scholarship favours Hauteville-la-Guichard.
The first of the family well known to us is Tancred of Hauteville, the founder of the eponymous villa. He remained until his death (c. 1041) a minor baron of Normandy, but he had twelve sons and at least two daughters by two wives, Muriel and Fressenda. His small patrimony was hardly enough to satisfy his sons' desire for land and glory and so eight of the twelve went south to the Mezzogiorno to seek their fortunes there.

Mezzogiorno

 Norman conquest of southern Italy

The eldest of the twelve sons, William and Drogo, were the first to arrive in the south sometime around 1035. They so distinguished themselves against the Greeks that William was inaugurated as count of Apulia and Calabria and lord of Ascoli, Drogo as lord of Venosa. In 1047, Drogo was confirmed by the Emperor Henry III as William's heir and a direct vassal of the imperial crown. Their next brother, Humphrey, succeeded Drogo and defeated Pope Leo IX at the Battle of Civitate, making the Hauteville power the highest in the region. He was in turn succeeded by a fourth brother, Robert Guiscard, the first son by Tancred's second wife.

It was Robert who began the conquest of Sicily which was to yield a kingdom seventy years later, as he renewed the war against Byzantium with vigor. Along with the valiant warriorship displayed by his youngest brother, Roger Bosso, the two began to amass notoriety around the Mediterranean.^[4]

According to William of Apulia's The Deeds of Robert Guiscard

, although his Norse roots would seem to suggest otherwise, until the invasion of Sicily, Guiscard had not participated in naval warfare.^[5] It was during this conquest that Guiscard and his amphibious command pioneered the ability to transport over 200 troops in a mere 13 vessels, an advantage that would have an influence in the Norman invasion of England. ^[6] In 1059 he was created duke by the pope and invested with as yet unconquered Sicily, which he gave, in 1071, to his brother Roger with the title of count. The Guiscard's heirs, Bohemond and Roger Borsa, fought over the inheritance and Roger of Sicily began to outshine the Apulian branch of the family.

Roger united the Greek, Lombard, Norman, and Saracen elements of Sicily under one rule and refused to allow religious differences to spoil his conquests. By utilizing a tactic similar to the contemporary Spanish convention of La Convivencia, Roger was able to employ a policy of "conquest by accommodation" in order to unite the island in spite of being significantly outnumbered by the inhabiting Muslim population ^[7]. Roger bequeathed a powerful state to his young sons, Simon and Roger. It was this Roger who, upon inheriting all from Simon in 1105, began the quest to unite into one all the Hauteville domains: Apulia and Calabria (then under Borsa's son William II) and Taranto (which had been given to Bohemond as a consolation for being deprived of Apulia) with his own Sicily.

Kingdom of Sicily
On William's death in 1127, the union of the duchy and the county was effected and Roger's quest for a crown began. Believing kings to have ruled Palermo in antiquity, Roger threw his support behind the Antipope Anacletus II and was duly enthroned as king of Sicily on Christmas Day 1130.
Roger spent most of the decade beginning with his coronation and ending with his great Assizes of Ariano fending off one invader or other and quelling rebellions by his premier vassals: Grimoald of Bari, Robert of Capua, Ranulf of Alife, Sergius of Naples, etc. In 1139, by the Treaty of Mignano, Roger received the recognition of his kingship from the legitimate pope. It was through his admiral George of Antioch that Roger then proceeded to conquer the Mahdia in Africa, taking the unofficial  title "king of Africa."

Roger's son and successor was William the Bad, though his nickname derives primarily from his lack of popularity with the chroniclers, who supported the baronial revolts William crushed. His reign ended in peace (1166), but his son, William the Good, was a minor. During the boy regency until 1172, the kingdom saw turmoil which almost brought the ruling family down, but eventually the realm settled down and the reign of the second William is remembered as two decades of almost continual peace and prosperity. For this more than anything, he is nicknamed "the Good." His death without heirs in 1189 threw the realm into chaos, however.

Tancred of Lecce seized the throne but had to contend with the revolt of his distant cousin Roger of Andria and the invasion of Henry VI of Germany on behalf of his wife, Constance, the daughter of Roger II. Constance and Henry eventually prevailed and the kingdom fell in 1194 to the Hohenstaufen. Through Constance, however, the Hauteville blood was passed to the great Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Crusades The aforementioned Bohemond received in 1088, as a consolation, the principality of Taranto district from the duchy of Apulia which fell as per their father's will to his brother Roger Borsa. Bohemond did not long remain to enjoy his new principality, for while besieging Amalfi with his uncle and brother, he joined a passing band of Crusaders on their way to Palestine. Among his army was a nephew of his, a young man named Tancred.

Bohemond was the natural leader of the crusading host but, through a trick, he took Antioch and did not continue on to Jerusalem with the rest of the army, instead remaining in the newly-conquered city to carve out a principality for himself there. Tancred also left the main Crusade at Heraclea Cybistra to fight for territory in Cilicia. A great state like the one his cousins were forging in Europe, however, was impossible for Bohemond. He was defeated badly at the Battle of Harran and forced later to sign the Treaty of Devol with Byzantium. Nevertheless, his son Bohemond II inherited the Crusader state. He in turn gave it to his only daughter, Constance, who ruled it until 1163.

Tancred had great luck in carving out a principality around Galilee with the grants of Godfrey of
Bouillon, but he relinquished this in 1101.

Genealogy Tancred and his first wife Muriel (or Muriella) had the following issue:

• William Iron Arm, count of Apulia (1042–1046)
• Drogo, count of Apulia (1046–1051)
• Humphrey, count of Apulia (1051–1057)
  • Abelard (d.1081)
  • Herman, count of Cannae (1081–1097)
• Geoffrey, count of the Capitanate (d.1071)
  • Robert I, count of Loritello (1061–1107)
    • Robert II, count of Loritello (1107–1137)
      • William, count of Loritello (1137, d.?)
• Sarlo (or Serlo) I, heir to estates in Normandy
  • Sarlo II (d.1072) married the daughter of Roger de Moulins Count of Boiano.
    • Sarlo III descending from which the Marquis Sarlo of Calabria

Tancred and his second wife Fressenda (or Fedesenda) had the following issue:

• Robert Guiscard, count (1057–1059) and duke of Apulia (1059–1085)
  • Bohemond I, prince of Taranto (1088–1111) and Antioch (1098–1111)
    • Bohemond II, prince of Taranto (1111–1128) and Antioch (1111–1131)
      • Constance, Princess of Antioch (1131–1163)
  • Roger Borsa, duke of Apulia (1085–1111)
    • William II, duke of Apulia (1111–1127)
  • Guy, duke of Amalfi and Sorrento (d.1107)
  • Robert Scalio (d.1110)
  • Emma of Apulia
    • Tancred, Prince of Galilee (1072–1112)
    • William
• Mauger, count of the Capitanate (1056–1059)
• William, count of the Principate (1056–1080)
  • Richard of Salerno, regent of the County of Edessa (1104–1108, d.1114)
    • Roger of Salerno, regent of the Principality of Antioch (1112–1119)
• Aubrey (also Alberic, Alberad, Alvered, Alvred, or Alfred), stayed in Normandy
• Hubert (also Humbert), stayed in Normandy
• Tancred, stayed in Normandy
• Roger Bosso, count of Sicily (1071–1101)
  • Jordan, count of Syracuse (1091–1092)
  • Geoffrey, count of Ragusa
  • Mauger, count of Troina
  • Simon, count of Sicily (1101–1105)
  • Roger II, count (1105–1130) and king of Sicily (1130–1154)
    • Roger, duke of Apulia (1134–1148)
      • Tancred, count of Lecce and king of Sicily (1189–1194)
        • Roger III, king of Sicily (1193–1194)
        • William III, king of Sicily (1194)
    • Tancred, prince of Bari (1132–1138)
    • Alfonso, prince of Capua (1135–1144)
    • William I the Bad, king of Sicily (1154–1166)
      • Roger, duke of Apulia (1154–1161)
      • Robert
      • William II the Good, king of Sicily (1166–1189)
        • Bohemond, duke of Apulia (1181)
      • Henry, prince of Capua (1166–1172)
    • Henry
    • Simon, prince of Taranto (1128–1154)
    • Constance, queen of Sicily (1194–1198)
      • Frederick I of Sicily king of Sicily (1198–1250)

Relatives of unknown relationship include:

• Tancred, count of Syracuse (fl. 1104)
• Simon, count of Syracuse (fl. 1162), possibly a son of Roger II or nephew of Roger I.

References

1. ^ Hill, James S. The place-names of Somerset. St. Stephen's printing works, 1914, Princeton University. Page 256
2. ^ Revue de l'Avranchin et du pays de Granville, Volume 31, Issue 174, Parts 3-4. Société d'archéologie, de littérature, sciences et arts d'Avranches, Mortain, Granville. the University of Michigan.
3. ^ Google books, The British Chronicles, Volume 2 By David Hughes, Page 527
4. ^ Malaterra, Goffredo; Kenneth Baxter Wolf (2005). The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily and of His Brother Duke Robert Guiscard. USA: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 151. ISBN 0-472-11459-X.
5. ^ G.A. Loud, William of Apulia (1963). M. Mathieu. ed. Palermo: Guillaume de Pouille.
6. ^ Theotokis, Georgios (November 2010). "The Norman Invasion of Sicily, 1061-1072: Numbers and Military Tactics". War in History 17 (4): 381-402.
7. ^ Stanton, C.D. (2010). "Roger de Hauteville, Emir of Sicily"
   . Mediterranean Historical Review 25 (2): 113-132.

Sources

• European Commission presentation of The Normans
  Norman Heritage, 10th-12th century.
• Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
• Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970.
• Pierre Aubé, Roger II de Sicile. 2001.
• Matthew, Donald. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Cambridge University Press: 1992.
• Houben, Hubert. Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne. Cambridge University Press: 2002.
• Medieval Sourcebook: Alexiad—complete text, translated Elizabeth A. Dawes
• Ralph of Caen. Gesta Tancredi. trans. Bernard S. and David S. Bachrach. Ashgate Publishing, 2005.

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Did you follow all that? Me neither!
More about Sir Roger of Sicily tomorrow!